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I just recently last month built a completely new gaming computer and I went with the I5 3750k.

I've had mine overclocked to 4.6ghz with a aftermarket cooler and has ran fine since, but the temperatures are warmer compared to a equally clocked I5 2500k. But a 4.6ghz 3750k is still faster than a 2500k of same clock because of improvements in CPU architecture. If I remember correctly the 3750k is faster by 3x times over the 2500k.

For example I can have a overclocked 5.0ghz 2500k but a 3750k clocked to 4.6ghz will still beat the 2500k in performance tests.

IMO, the price difference is like around only 10-20 dollars (last time I checked) difference so I would recommended the 3750k because it's newer and better tech.

However, what Random32 said does hold true. If you're really really tight on the cash then just get the 2500k and get a nice GPU because gaming wise upgrading the GPU is number one while CPU is second. I bet the 2500k will go cheap very soon since the 3750k are out now.

That's why I said a good case
Now that I remember, the 480 only have 1.5gb of gddr5. You are right, it might limit at high resolution with high texture and AA...

Only 1.5GB?
I built my computer over 2 years ago and it has an HD 5870 with 1GB, and I still feel like that's too much

But then again, all I really play anymore is WoW (quit playing all my other games when I first discovered anime 8 months ago )

But yeah, I would get dual 480's if you can afford it, just to be awesome. I've heard that SLI scales ~30% better than CrossFire, which is probably the only reason I haven't bought a second 5870 yet (that and I don't want to buy a second waterblock )

5870 has stellar performance, it's a great card despite being two generations out of date. If you're not running at obscenely high resolutions (nothing higher than 1920x1200 or so) then you're not going to run into issues with a 1GB framebuffer.